jack, it's cold outside
by exbird
Summary: (BLACKICE) Since Pitch's defeat four years ago, Jack hasn't told anybody about the nightmares. Not his powers growing unstable, feelings for a certain someone, or that his first believer no longer believes in him. So when Jack accidentally sets off an eternal winter and flees, the Guardians call upon the only spirit capable of reversing the darkness in Jack's heart: Pitch Black.
1. chapter i: the truth about secrets

_The truth about secrets is that they're damn hard to keep._

It's 3:02AM. Jack Frost wakes with a start. He can't remember the last time he _didn't_ wake up this way, covered in sweat and his forehead slicked with sweat. His staff sits a few feet away, lodged in the branch of the tree he fell asleep in. When did the nightmares even start showing up?

Jack sighs, rubbing the snowflakes from his eyelids and brushing hardened tendrils of ice off his hoodie. He catches his reflection in the frozen lake below and sighs. The moonlight shines a strange glow over the hard surface. He looks ghastly: skin paler than a fresh blanket of snow. His cheeks are sore and his hands are shaking, while Jack notices his entire body appears hauntingly fragile. In the lake's surface, he blinks at his eyes, dark circles set deep underneath with a hollowness echoing inside them.

 _Damn you, Pitch._

He never told anyone. Not really. The nightmares started appearing the very night after the Guardians had defeated Pitch, sending him to his demise through the earth's mouth, swallowed by his own fear and darkness.

When Jack parted ways with the Guardians to prepare after-Christmas snow days for children in Michigan, he felt whole. Like the world had suddenly caught on to time's oldest gift: Jack Frost. The spirit behind all the joy and laughter he never knew credit for until recently. So even as the nightmares started entering his sleep, taunting him with secrets he'd sworn never to tell the Guardians, Jack Frost was happy.

Jack visited North when he needed advice on how to help an introverted kid see the fun in snowball fights, or for what to where that time Tooth asked him to go see the Northern Lights in Canada.

He chatted frequently with Bunny during the rabbit's off days, which pretty much consisted of every day of the year save for the week before Easter. As for Sandy, Jack spoke with him often and followed him on trips to deliver dreams to newborn babies, even those who weren't predicted to live very long. Jack learned, and he discovered that a Guardian's work is more than the act of spreading wonder: it was harsh, at times.

Sometimes without reward. In those four years, Jack watched Jamie Bennett and his friends stop chatting excitedly about the approaching winter or whether Jack himself would stop by to initiate a snowball fight on a conveniently arranged snow day. They began staying inside, stressing about homework that was assigned over the holidays, whether they would be able to head into the city for the day if the roads were completely snowed in, and cursing at several inches of snow when they had an exam to write that day. Jack watched their dreams fade into worries. He even asked Sandy, who replied that some children simply grow to shake off his sand for a dreamless sleep.

Sandy told him it was better for some, that way. The world needed them to grow up, and it was about time. There would be other children, he assured Jack. So Jack kept watching. He watched Jamie's friends brush off their encounter with the Guardians as a hyperactive episode of imagination and confront their parents about them putting quarters under their pillows whenever a tooth was lost. They rushed out of the neighbourhood for winter shopping sale deals and poked fun at mall Santas.

Worst of all, Jamie followed them. He laughed with them. He laughed until Jack stood by his side one night and Jamie looked right past him.

And Tooth had warned him about adopting too much innocence from the children they protected. Recently, she'd collected teeth from a child she told him was being abused; but it wasn't in her place to do anything. Jack held her until Tooth cried and then couldn't cry anymore. He learned, and he tried to ignore the nightmares as best he could.

After all, didn't all the Guardians harbour similar fears? Who could blame them?

 _"Ha, you're no different,"_ Jack thinks, smiling weakly to himself. _"So what's stopping you from telling them?"_

But he knows. Everything is preventing him from telling the truth, and he couldn't change that.

Kicking off the snow that had fallen on him from the night before, Jack yawns and hops off the tree, landing soundlessly on the lake below. The ice beneath his feet swirls with tiny details and an intricate design. Jack purses his lips, staring at the sky and letting out a misty breath. The forest behind Burgess looks so beautiful, the sun trickling over the edges of the horizon. It's almost enough to make Jack forget about what he had dreamt about the night before. Almost.

"Why does this keep happening?" He asks, reaching a hand out towards the moon. His eyes grow wide for a moment, then shut themselves tight. Jack laughs, shaking in the stillness. "No answer, of course." He grabs his staff and begins walking away, glancing over his shoulder at Manny, ever quiet whenever he desperately needed answers.

While heading into town, Jack closes his eyes. It all comes back without warning.

* * *

 _A cold hand on his cheek, the weight of a comforting darkness hanging around him. The world is so quiet. When Jack opens his eyes, it takes a moment for all his senses to collect. His fingers are caked in dried blood; but it's not his own. He feels for his legs, wrapped around skin that is both rough and strong to touch. His arms hold someone close to him, Jack's own heartbeat resounding against a pale chest. In front of him, a pair of eyes are set deep and drowning in lust. A voice Jack cannot hear. But he remembers responding, anyway, his breath hitching as a hand wanders its way down his inner thigh._

 _"Do you want to be believed in?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Do you know that all children must grow up?"_

 _"...Yes."_

 _"Then come. Come with me, and the world will believe, no matter how old each child grows. Wouldn't you like that, Jack?"_

 _"Yes."_

* * *

When Jack opens his eyes again, he isn't in Burgess. Instead, he's in the middle of the forest, his head in his hands and a sob forcing itself out of his throat. His mind is spinning. He pants, a sick fear growing deeper in his stomach. He feels the sun on his back now-how much time had passed?

Jack can't breathe. The space around him grows hazy while the lake's edge starts shooting out thin spikes, its tips covered in translucent black ice. Jack's eyes widen and he clutches his stomach as his vision rings with a thousand voices. His breaths grow more and more rapid as the spikes snake across the lake and around the forest, covering the trees and hills with icicles sharp enough to kill.

His head stings. He feels the pain deep within his skull just before everything goes silent. The last thing Jack sees is snow, snow falling in heaps around him until he's buried several feet under.

When the black fades, he's in the air, staff in hand. His cheeks are stained in the residue of thick tears.

On January 1st, a blizzard blows across Michigan with no signs of stopping.

* * *

 _Dear Jack,_

 _I hope this letter reaches you._

 _It's been a month since you left without a word._

 _The Guardians and I asked the wind to deliver this message, and we pray that you're safe, wherever you may be. Jack, please come home. We miss you and we can't fix this winter alone. Ever since you disappeared, blizzards have appeared in every continent with no signs of stopping. People are dying. They're dying, Jack, and I know this isn't your fault, but I need you to help us fix this. The children need you, and they need you quickly. We don't know how much longer we can hold. Truth be told, Jack, this has never happened before. North had no idea you were capable of such raw power and it scares him. It scares me, Jack. Where are you? Why did you leave so suddenly?_

 _I'll always be here for you. I'm so sorry you had to leave. I feel like I might understand if we had just talked, Jack. I know where your mind has been wandering lately. How your eyes linger on the shadows of Burgess' alleyways for a moment too long. You're searching for him, aren't you? I wish you could have told us. Or me, at least. I thought you trusted us, or maybe you do. It's my fault for not noticing this sooner. I'm sorry, Jack, so I'm asking you to help me make sense of all these secrets. Please just come home. We can help you rid your thoughts of Pitch forever._

 _Love,_

 _Tooth_


	2. chapter ii: where jack went

**hi guys! thanks to everyone who has found this story so far and left a favorite! it really makes me glad to see that people are still active in this fandom and looking to read my work. again, pls feel free to leave a comment or hmu on tumblr (exbirdies) if y'all want to chat about anything rise of the guardians related ;-) chapter updates will probably come once every 1-4 days, depending on how busy i am.**

In North's workshop, Toothiana paces the Globe Room in a rapid flutter.

She's early, as always. The other Guardians hadn't arrived yet, save North, who stood silent and still before the Globe of Belief with arms crossed, exposing the faded ink of his tattoos. Tooth couldn't remember the last time North appeared so deep in thought, a pensive look replacing his usual jolly self. Even the Yetis and elves in the room

"North?" Tooth smiles, hovering towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

He pauses, pressing a palm against the Globe, now covered in a thick white mist that shrouds the children's lights. A cool breeze is lifted from Michigan and drifts in all directions at once, surrounding the sphere in snow.

"North?"

"Yes, Tooth, of course," He sighs. "Why not okay?" North turns away from the map, directing his gaze instead at the Yetis sitting uncomfortably in the room. None of them make eye contact, their heads turned downwards. The silence is deafeningly loud.

"Well, you know," she says. "Though, my fairies have been searching diligently while on their daily runs-we've covered much of Southeast Asia and Europe already and Bunny-" Tooth stops. At the same time, a low rumbling sound growls from beneath the floorboards. Tooth lights up, laughing in spite of the moment. "Oh, he's here!"

North too grins, his eyes brightening as he steps out of the way. The floor beneath him caves into a gaping tunnel that stretches for who-knows-how-long underground while Bunnymund leaps up on instinct, landing on the floor with a thud. He spins his boomerang around him and slings it on his back.

"Nice to see I'm not last. Where's the Sandman?" Bunny asks, leaning against the wall. He tosses an egg up in the air and catches it with ease. "Better question-any news of Frost? It's been how long, now?"

"A month and a bit," Tooth says, folding her hands together. "Any luck on your end?"

"Nope," Bunny shrugs. Tooth opens her mouth to speak, then closes it. Despite Bunny's nonchalant manner, she can tell he's just as worried as the rest of them. Or perhaps worry isn't the right word, and Tooth doesn't know what to call this except for the epitome of _fear._ She shakes her head. It's been so long she isn't sure what to make of the situation anymore, and neither does Bunny or North, it seems.

Tooth still remembers bringing Jack to collect teeth from _that_ house in Massachusetts. How his face fell and Tooth immediately regretted allowing him to tag along as she slipped not one, but four quarters underneath the girl's pillow. The way her dirt-tangled and greased hair framed the bruises around her face. And how Jack had to step back, take in the little girl's empty bedroom that held no toys or personal items, except for a picture with its glass shattered on top of a family of three.

The mother inside was smiling at her daughter, her teeth bright and nearly blinding in the photograph's flash. Her eyes seemed to dance under the sunlight, the same look shared in the girl standing below her, hands holding on to both parents. The father, Tooth had noticed, stared into the camera with a lighter smile, his shoulders relaxed in a way that appeared strange, as if he was the kind of man who wasn't normally seen so calm. The sight sent shivers down her spine.

And Jack had done so much. He held up a hand, though trembling in an emotion he couldn't quite place, to the girl's sleeping face, pressing ice against her wounds. Tooth stayed by his side as he enchanted packages and packages of ice, numbing the girl's bruises as dawn rose over the sky from outside the window. When the girl began to stir, they left without a second glance back, exchanging not a word. Still, Tooth remembered Jack fumbling in the wind when heading back to Tooth Palace and acting unusually quiet. She didn't press him for questions, though.

But perhaps she should have. At the time, how much could she have done to prevent all this? Tooth brushes the thought away, turning back to North, who is in the middle of speaking in a hushed tone with Bunny.

Bunny raises an eyebrow at North.

Footsteps and the sound of dust sweeping the floor echo in the still halls. The grand double-doors swing open and Sandy walks through, his face a mixture of both disheartenment and curiosity. He signs a silhouette of Jack's face overhead, pointing to it expectedly.

"No, Sandy, nothing from us." It breaks her heart to see the Sandman slump over, sitting on the ground beside a cluster of elves. She glances at North, who clears his throat and throws out his arms.

"Guardians! Thank you for coming for-what now?" He laughs, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"The third meeting this week, North. I don't know how to tell you this, but even when we aren't here, these mates and I have been fighting the blizzards in every way possible. We're talking egg explosions on every rooftop, chimney, driveway, and street. Temperatures have been dropping like hell, mate. What is this, the Ice Age?" Bunny crosses his arms. "How am I supposed to have bloody Easter when the snow covers inches and inches of ground every six hours? My eggs are drowning in it, for Manny's sake. Do you know how many children without a roof over their heads have already-"

"Bunny," North warns. He looks at Sandy, who signs a message back: " _Half the children in Burgess alone. Not falling asleep as they normally would. Because of cold. No sleep, no dreams. And when dreams,"_ he nods at Bunny, _"all about Easter. In February! Because the children need hope. And no hope in snow without fun."_

"So we bring back fun!" North cries. The Guardians shift in discomfort. "Or, tried that already?" He chuckles, and Tooth notices how nervous it sounds. He didn't plan this meeting at all, unless, of course, he plans to do what Tooth thinks is their last hope.

"North," Tooth begins, fluttering to the ground to stand. "We're too late for that. We can't reverse the storm. We can't-" her voice breaks- "save all the children. Unless we find where Jack went..."

"If he's alive." Bunny looks at her.

"He is. He must be," North nods, beckoning Tooth to continue, knowing what she would say.

"The world is going to freeze. The children will stop believing. Maybe it's time we tried contacting-"

As if to respond, a trill of a song breaks the tension in the room, and the Guardians turn to face the open window where the moon can be seen.

 _"Guardians."_ A blue glow emits from a distance miles away, saturating the room in silver. _"It's been a while."_

North takes in a breath. "Man in Moon."


End file.
